Bollywood Hits Toronto!

Bollywood is no longer something to be ignored. It was understandable in 2001, when Ghost World hit screens, that many people had never heard of legend Mohammed Radi or seen him sing Jan Pehechan-Ho -- let alone seen ladies and gents go dance crazy without surf boards and bikinis. However, the power of Indian film cannot be ignored -- its volume and ticket sales are the largest in the world and the sensation is sliding out of India bit by bit.

Tonight, the legions of Bollywood fans in Toronto are in for a special treat, and not some quarter-costing sweet from a gumball machine. Tonight, Mani Ratnam's new Indian romantic drama Guru will have its world premiere at the Elgin Theatre. For any of you who think that $10, $15 or even $20 is too much to shell out for a film, try a top price tag of $500 -- and this isn't because the film won't come out for a while. It opens in Canada on Friday. Yes, Bollywood has gotten big enough in the multicultural city of Toronto that they'll charge upwards of 10 times what a premiere sells for at TIFF. And money isn't the only thing to hit high numbers -- city officials are expecting up to 10,000 people to hit Yonge Street in hopes to see one of the film's stars, Abhishek Bachchan or Aishwarya Rai. And they're probably not exaggerating too much. When Babel and the Indian film Never Say Goodbye premiered on the same day, Bollywood fans dwarfed those anxious to see Brad Pitt. Watch out, Hollywood! The Bollywood craze is hitting North America.